TryingSoHard

The past few nights I've been having dreams about drinking. The kind of dreams where I wake up and honestly have to wonder if it happened or not because it seemed so freaking real. Saturday night was especially bad - that was the night that I came really close to having a drink. I had dreams about drinking, about hiding a stash, about refilling bottles so no one would know how much I drank... the whole nine yards. Yesterday morning it took me about a half hour to convince myself that I truly DID NOT DRINK Saturday night!!

Does this happen to anyone else?!?

SelfSeeking

YES! Not often but a couple of times since I stopped drinking. Very unsettling. Maybe it's our brains running through the scenario for us! Doing its little processing thing.

I am so proud of/happy for you TSH, you are really fighting the good fight. *hugs*

deezaldog

It has happened to me as well. Seems like recently they have been different. Past dreams seemed real. But when I woke up I had to think a minute if it was true. I was really really glad that it was only a dream. Lately I havent dreamt I was drinking but around a lot of drinking. But, I have been told by those with lots of sobriety that they still have the dreams. Remember, they are only dreams, you cant control your dreams only your actions when awake. They do get more infrequent and less intense. Keep working on your sobriety and best wishes for a great day! LOL

Ananda

I have had alot of dreams about that it is clear by my house and my behavior that I have been drinking...but i don't have any recollection of having done so. They are horrible nightmares.

I believe that i have these dreams when I am under way more stress than i can handle. It is an indiction to me that I need to find a better way to deal with SOMETHING tht is going on in my life. So I try to work on that.

But I don't worry about the drinking dreams as anything other than an indicator of stress...just like the dream that you go to school unprepared.

TryingSoHard

LOL - I STILL have those "school" dreams, and I haven't been in school of any sort since 1997!! I dream things like it's suddenly the day of the final exam and I've skipped class all semester...

LosingmyMisery

I've been sober for over 4 years and I've been having drinking dreams lately. I haven't had any for a long, long time. I look at them as a blessing. In my dreams, I ponder what will happen if I drink. I live it, I experience it. I know what the outcome of one drink will be. I realize what the repercussions will be and I experience the very real emotions of what will happen.

In real life, I did the hiding and refilling and planning of my drinking. It was a major ordeal and the process exhausted me. When I wake up from these dreams, I am grateful that I am sober and that I am reminded of what will be if I were to pick up a drink. I feel the horrible guilt and shame that goes along with drinking. I can't imagine going through another relapse. I relapsed early in recover and the experience about killed me, both physically and emotionally. Ughhh....I shudder at the thought.

Drinking dreams are very common. Try to learn from the experience and do not act on them. I have never had a drinking dream where the outcome was pleasant. They are always very negative and emotional. My drinking was very out of control in the end. I know I can never drink again. If I do, the results will be devastating. I get that now even in a subconscious state.

vegibean

Yeah, I've had those dreams too. I wake up and I think "OMG!! Did I really drink?" Freaks me out. I had a lot of them too when I was about to leave the TC and again when I got out. Now, not really. I relate them to being stressed over the fact that it's still up there in my noggin. I try not to give it much energy or focus.

Jig

I've had a few dreams like that as well. I've been told it's normal. I even feel hungover until I realise I didn't drink.

I feel so relieved once I work out it was just a dream.

I take that and use it as a reminder when I feel like drinking.

Bamboozle

Yeah, I have those drinking nightmares too...plus the school ones (I almost didn't make it in college). Most dreams are crap anyway...I ignore them.

TryingSoHard

LOL I had another one of the college dreams last night... and one of my high school teachers was my college professor! I had skipped all semester, showed up on the last day, only to find out I was scheduled to do a presentation that day!

Oh well, at least I didn't dream about drinking again.

Bamboozle

Personally, the school ones are worse for me than the drinking ones. I wake up feeling like a failure, and then I remember I'm not. :P

bostonluv

I had a wierd dream the other night that I was drinking vodka. I hate vodka. I'm really glad to know I did not relapse on that.